diff --git a/gst/gstbuffer.c b/gst/gstbuffer.c
index b23cff582f..0b8692b2ee 100644
--- a/gst/gstbuffer.c
+++ b/gst/gstbuffer.c
@@ -179,6 +179,38 @@ _gst_buffer_initialize (void)
   }
 }
 
+void
+gst_buffer_copy_memory (GstBuffer * dest, GstBuffer * src,
+    gsize offset, gsize size, gboolean merge)
+{
+  GPtrArray *sarr = (GPtrArray *) src->memory;
+  GPtrArray *darr = (GPtrArray *) dest->memory;
+  guint i, len;
+
+  len = sarr->len;
+
+  for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+    GstMemory *mem = g_ptr_array_index (sarr, i);
+    g_ptr_array_add (darr, gst_memory_copy (mem));
+  }
+}
+
+void
+gst_buffer_share_memory (GstBuffer * dest, GstBuffer * src)
+{
+  GPtrArray *sarr = (GPtrArray *) src->memory;
+  GPtrArray *darr = (GPtrArray *) dest->memory;
+  guint i, len;
+
+  len = sarr->len;
+
+  for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+    GstMemory *mem = g_ptr_array_index (sarr, i);
+    g_ptr_array_add (darr, gst_memory_ref (mem));
+  }
+}
+
+
 /**
  * gst_buffer_copy_metadata:
  * @dest: a destination #GstBuffer
@@ -197,7 +229,7 @@ _gst_buffer_initialize (void)
  * Since: 0.10.13
  */
 void
-gst_buffer_copy_metadata (GstBuffer * dest, const GstBuffer * src,
+gst_buffer_copy_metadata (GstBuffer * dest, GstBuffer * src,
     GstBufferCopyFlags flags)
 {
   GstMetaItem *walk;
@@ -259,30 +291,7 @@ _gst_buffer_copy (GstBuffer * buffer)
   copy = gst_buffer_new ();
 
   /* we simply copy everything from our parent */
-#ifdef HAVE_POSIX_MEMALIGN
-  {
-    gpointer memptr = NULL;
-
-    if (G_LIKELY (buffer->size)) {
-      if (G_UNLIKELY (!aligned_malloc (&memptr, buffer->size))) {
-        /* terminate on error like g_memdup() would */
-        g_error ("%s: failed to allocate %u bytes", G_STRLOC, buffer->size);
-      } else {
-        memcpy (memptr, buffer->data, buffer->size);
-      }
-    }
-    copy->data = (guint8 *) memptr;
-    GST_BUFFER_FREE_FUNC (copy) = free;
-  }
-#else
-  copy->data = g_memdup (buffer->data, buffer->size);
-#endif
-
-  /* make sure it gets freed (even if the parent is subclassed, we return a
-     normal buffer) */
-  copy->malloc_data = copy->data;
-  copy->size = buffer->size;
-
+  gst_buffer_copy_memory (copy, buffer, 0, 0, FALSE);
   gst_buffer_copy_metadata (copy, buffer, GST_BUFFER_COPY_ALL);
 
   return copy;
@@ -313,15 +322,8 @@ _gst_buffer_free (GstBuffer * buffer)
 
   GST_CAT_LOG (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "finalize %p", buffer);
 
-  /* free our data */
-  if (G_LIKELY (buffer->malloc_data))
-    buffer->free_func (buffer->malloc_data);
-
   gst_caps_replace (&GST_BUFFER_CAPS (buffer), NULL);
 
-  if (buffer->parent)
-    gst_buffer_unref (buffer->parent);
-
   /* free metadata */
   for (walk = buffer->priv; walk; walk = next) {
     GstMeta *meta = &walk->meta;
@@ -335,6 +337,9 @@ _gst_buffer_free (GstBuffer * buffer)
     g_slice_free (GstMetaItem, walk);
   }
 
+  /* free our data */
+  g_ptr_array_free (buffer->memory, TRUE);
+
   g_slice_free1 (GST_MINI_OBJECT_SIZE (buffer), buffer);
 }
 
@@ -352,7 +357,10 @@ gst_buffer_init (GstBuffer * buffer, gsize size)
   GST_BUFFER_DURATION (buffer) = GST_CLOCK_TIME_NONE;
   GST_BUFFER_OFFSET (buffer) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_NONE;
   GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_END (buffer) = GST_BUFFER_OFFSET_NONE;
-  GST_BUFFER_FREE_FUNC (buffer) = g_free;
+
+  /* FIXME, do more efficient with array in the buffer memory itself */
+  buffer->memory =
+      g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func ((GDestroyNotify) gst_memory_unref);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -401,24 +409,8 @@ gst_buffer_new_and_alloc (guint size)
 
   newbuf = gst_buffer_new ();
 
-#ifdef HAVE_POSIX_MEMALIGN
-  {
-    gpointer memptr = NULL;
-
-    if (G_LIKELY (size)) {
-      if (G_UNLIKELY (!aligned_malloc (&memptr, size))) {
-        /* terminate on error like g_memdup() would */
-        g_error ("%s: failed to allocate %u bytes", G_STRLOC, size);
-      }
-    }
-    newbuf->malloc_data = (guint8 *) memptr;
-    GST_BUFFER_FREE_FUNC (newbuf) = free;
-  }
-#else
-  newbuf->malloc_data = g_malloc (size);
-#endif
-  GST_BUFFER_DATA (newbuf) = newbuf->malloc_data;
-  GST_BUFFER_SIZE (newbuf) = size;
+  gst_buffer_take_memory (newbuf, gst_memory_new_alloc (size,
+          _gst_buffer_data_alignment));
 
   GST_CAT_LOG (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "new %p of size %d", newbuf, size);
 
@@ -446,42 +438,84 @@ GstBuffer *
 gst_buffer_try_new_and_alloc (guint size)
 {
   GstBuffer *newbuf;
-  guint8 *malloc_data;
-#ifdef HAVE_POSIX_MEMALIGN
-  gpointer memptr = NULL;
+  GstMemory *mem;
 
-  if (G_LIKELY (size)) {
-    if (G_UNLIKELY (!aligned_malloc (&memptr, size))) {
-      GST_CAT_WARNING (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "failed to allocate %d bytes", size);
-      return NULL;
-    }
-  }
-  malloc_data = (guint8 *) memptr;
-#else
-  malloc_data = g_try_malloc (size);
-
-  if (G_UNLIKELY (malloc_data == NULL && size != 0)) {
+  mem = gst_memory_new_alloc (size, _gst_buffer_data_alignment);
+  if (G_UNLIKELY (mem == NULL)) {
     GST_CAT_WARNING (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "failed to allocate %d bytes", size);
     return NULL;
   }
-#endif
-
-  /* FIXME: there's no g_type_try_create_instance() in GObject yet, so this
-   * will still abort if a new GstBuffer structure can't be allocated */
-  newbuf = gst_buffer_new ();
-
-  GST_BUFFER_MALLOCDATA (newbuf) = malloc_data;
-  GST_BUFFER_DATA (newbuf) = malloc_data;
-  GST_BUFFER_SIZE (newbuf) = size;
-#ifdef HAVE_POSIX_MEMALIGN
-  GST_BUFFER_FREE_FUNC (newbuf) = free;
-#endif
+  gst_buffer_take_memory (newbuf, mem);
 
   GST_CAT_LOG (GST_CAT_BUFFER, "new %p of size %d", newbuf, size);
 
   return newbuf;
 }
 
+guint
+gst_buffer_n_memory (GstBuffer * buffer)
+{
+  GPtrArray *arr = (GPtrArray *) buffer->memory;
+
+  return arr->len;
+}
+
+void
+gst_buffer_take_memory (GstBuffer * buffer, GstMemory * mem)
+{
+  GPtrArray *arr = (GPtrArray *) buffer->memory;
+
+  g_ptr_array_add (arr, mem);
+}
+
+GstMemory *
+gst_buffer_peek_memory (GstBuffer * buffer, guint idx)
+{
+  GstMemory *mem;
+  GPtrArray *arr = (GPtrArray *) buffer->memory;
+
+  mem = g_ptr_array_index (arr, idx);
+
+  return mem;
+}
+
+void
+gst_buffer_remove_memory (GstBuffer * buffer, guint idx)
+{
+  GPtrArray *arr = (GPtrArray *) buffer->memory;
+
+  g_ptr_array_remove_index (arr, idx);
+}
+
+gsize
+gst_buffer_get_memory_size (GstBuffer * buffer)
+{
+  GPtrArray *arr = (GPtrArray *) buffer->memory;
+  guint i, size, len;
+
+  len = arr->len;
+
+  size = 0;
+  for (i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+    size += gst_memory_get_sizes (g_ptr_array_index (arr, i), NULL);
+  }
+  return size;
+}
+
+/* getting memory */
+gpointer
+gst_buffer_map (GstBuffer * buffer, gsize * size, gsize * maxsize,
+    GstMapFlags flags)
+{
+  return NULL;
+}
+
+gboolean
+gst_buffer_unmap (GstBuffer * buffer, gpointer data, gsize size)
+{
+  return FALSE;
+}
+
 /**
  * gst_buffer_get_caps:
  * @buffer: a #GstBuffer.
@@ -576,11 +610,14 @@ gst_buffer_make_metadata_writable (GstBuffer * buf)
   if (gst_buffer_is_metadata_writable (buf)) {
     ret = buf;
   } else {
-    ret = gst_buffer_create_sub (buf, 0, GST_BUFFER_SIZE (buf));
+    /* create a fresh new buffer */
+    ret = gst_buffer_new ();
 
+    /* we simply copy everything from our parent */
+    gst_buffer_share_memory (ret, buf);
+    gst_buffer_copy_metadata (ret, buf, GST_BUFFER_COPY_ALL);
     gst_buffer_unref (buf);
   }
-
   return ret;
 }
 
diff --git a/gst/gstbuffer.h b/gst/gstbuffer.h
index 0fad0b3678..aa229e962b 100644
--- a/gst/gstbuffer.h
+++ b/gst/gstbuffer.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include <gst/gstminiobject.h>
 #include <gst/gstclock.h>
 #include <gst/gstcaps.h>
+#include <gst/gstmemory.h>
 
 G_BEGIN_DECLS
 
@@ -265,9 +266,6 @@ struct _GstBuffer {
   GstMiniObject          mini_object;
 
   /*< public >*/ /* with COW */
-  /* pointer to data and its size */
-  guint8                *data;
-  guint                  size;
 
   /* timestamp */
   GstClockTime           timestamp;
@@ -280,11 +278,15 @@ struct _GstBuffer {
   guint64                offset;
   guint64                offset_end;
 
-  guint8                *malloc_data;
+  /* pointer to data and its size, backwards compatibility */
+  guint8                *bw_data;
+  guint                  bw_size;
+  guint8                *bw_malloc_data;
+  GFreeFunc              bw_free_func;
+
+  /* pointer to memory blocks */
+  gpointer               memory;
 
-  /* ABI Added */
-  GFreeFunc              free_func;
-  GstBuffer             *parent;
   GstBufferPool         *pool;
   gpointer               priv;
 };
@@ -294,6 +296,19 @@ GstBuffer * gst_buffer_new               (void);
 GstBuffer * gst_buffer_new_and_alloc     (guint size);
 GstBuffer * gst_buffer_try_new_and_alloc (guint size);
 
+/* memory blocks */
+guint       gst_buffer_n_memory          (GstBuffer *buffer);
+void        gst_buffer_take_memory       (GstBuffer *buffer, GstMemory *mem);
+GstMemory * gst_buffer_peek_memory       (GstBuffer *buffer, guint idx);
+void        gst_buffer_remove_memory     (GstBuffer *buffer, guint idx);
+
+gsize       gst_buffer_get_memory_size   (GstBuffer *buffer);
+
+/* getting memory */
+gpointer    gst_buffer_map               (GstBuffer *buffer, gsize *size, gsize *maxsize,
+                                          GstMapFlags flags);
+gboolean    gst_buffer_unmap             (GstBuffer *buffer, gpointer data, gsize size);
+
 /**
  * gst_buffer_set_data:
  * @buf: a #GstBuffer
@@ -406,8 +421,11 @@ typedef enum {
  */
 #define GST_BUFFER_COPY_ALL (GST_BUFFER_COPY_FLAGS | GST_BUFFER_COPY_TIMESTAMPS | GST_BUFFER_COPY_CAPS)
 
-/* copies metadata into newly allocated buffer */
-void            gst_buffer_copy_metadata        (GstBuffer *dest, const GstBuffer *src,
+/* copies memory or metadata into newly allocated buffer */
+void            gst_buffer_copy_memory          (GstBuffer *dest, GstBuffer *src,
+                                                 gsize offset, gsize size, gboolean merge);
+void            gst_buffer_share_memory         (GstBuffer *dest, GstBuffer *src);
+void            gst_buffer_copy_metadata        (GstBuffer *dest, GstBuffer *src,
                                                  GstBufferCopyFlags flags);
 
 /**
diff --git a/gst/gstmemory.h b/gst/gstmemory.h
index 6c1c3f169d..652dd9afe9 100644
--- a/gst/gstmemory.h
+++ b/gst/gstmemory.h
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@
 #ifndef __GST_MEMORY_H__
 #define __GST_MEMORY_H__
 
-#include <gst/gst.h>
+#include <gst/gstconfig.h>
+
+#include <glib-object.h>
 
 G_BEGIN_DECLS